Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

Hide Quotations Hide Etymology

Abbreviations Cite this entry

About this entry:
First published 1976 (SND Vol. X).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

‡WISE, v. Also wyse, wyze; weis(s)e, weeze, wies-; waise (Sc. a.1832 Scott Works Gl.). Obs. in Eng. exc. n. dial. [wəiz; occas. after Wise, adj., wəis]

1. tr. To guide, direct, lead, show a person to a place or a road, etc. to a person: (1) in gen. (Sc. 1808 Jam., weise, wyse; Rxb 1923 Watson W.-B.).Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxiii.:
I'll hae somebody waiting to weise ye the gate to the place where I may be for the time.Ayr. 1822 Galt Sir A. Wylie lxii:
I must see if ye can wyse to me a bonny lass with a heap o' siller.Sc. 1827 W. Motherwell Minstrelsy xci.:
Aye she curs'd the hostler's wife, That wysit her in at the door.Lth. 1854 M. Oliphant M. Hepburn ix.:
My man has a grand boat could wise ye ower to France.Bwk. 1880 T. Watts Woodland Echoes 45, 155:
Though Fate ma weise me far frae thee . . . A kindly wee glimmer, Seems tae wise me frae a' tae the side o' my deary.Sc. 1931 J. Lorimer Red Sergeant xii.:
She wad hae weised ye safe some wey.

(2) used specif., of a shepherd or his dog with sheep; also fig.Sc. 1808 Jam.:
To weise the sheep into the fauld or bught, is a phrase still used by our shepherds.Slk. 1818 Hogg B. of Bodsbeck xiii.:
Gether us ' in frae the cauld windy knowes o' self-conceit, an' wyse us a' into the true bught o' life.Edb. 1822 R. Wilson Poems 108:
May ye continue lang the fear O' ilka sin, An' poor doilt wand'rin' sinners cheer, An' wyse them in!Ayr. 1896 Galt Provost (Meldrum) II. 287:
In Ayrshire they speak of a dog wising sheep along a hill-side.Abd. 1900 J. Milne Poems 35:
We are yer sheep, sae weise us richt.em.Sc. 1909 J. Black Melodies 124:
I weized them roond to rest or graze On a' the greenest, sunniest braes.

(3) of water: to lead, conduct in a channel (Sc. 1808 Jam., weise, wyse).Dmf. 1822 A. Cunningham Trad. Tales II. 248:
Auld Miller Morison shall turn yere thrapple into a drain-pipe to wyse the waste water from his mill.Sc. 1827 Scott Journal (1950) 381:
Stuff with moss, and clagg with clay, And that will weize the water away.Sc. 1862 A. Hislop Proverbs 90:
Every miler wad weise the water to his ain mill.

2. tr. To coax, entice, induce, lure, to prevail on a person, lead round by advice (Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B., weise).Gsw. 1777 Weekly Mag. (16 Oct.) 63:
He'd be a soger, nought could wise him frae't.Sc. 1819 Scots Mag. (June) 528:
The fairies him sent to Craignethan's ha' To wize his dochter him frae.Sc. 1827 Wilson Noctes Amb. (1855) I. 310:
She didna use to come o' her ain accord . . . aneath my plaid, — I had to wise her in within its faulds.Lnk. a.1828 D. Graham Writings (1883) I. 20:
Dougie was a pawkey chield, and managed to wyse them ower to his ain interests.Ayr. 1833 J. Kennedy G. Chalmers 169:
Ye may as weel turn the win' o' the lift, as wyse roun' the will o' a youth o' saxteen.s.Sc. 1857 H. S. Riddell Psalms x. 9:
He deth clutch the puir whan he wyzes thame intil his nette.m.Lth. 1894 P. H. Hunter J. Inwick iv.:
He could weise a body ony gait he wanted.em.Sc. 1920 J. Black Airtin' Hame 53:
The earth and the sea, the air and the sky, Ha'e wiles micht weize us, gin we but try, To a world wi' thochts mair sweet.

3. To advise, counsel, instruct.Ayr. 1821 Galt Annals xxxviii.:
She took me by the hand and wised me to go back.Edb. 1897 W. Beatty Secretar xviii.:
I wise ye to gang hame and redd your ain house first.

4. intr. To beckon, sign, indicate by a gesture.Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost xi.:
His lordship wised to me to come and sit beside him.

5. To aim, propel, shoot (a missile) (Sc. 1825 Jam.).Sc. 1721 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) I. 223:
Dousser Fowk wysing a Jee The Byas Bouls on Tamson's Green.Sc. 1817 Scott Rob Roy xxxiii.:
Weize a brace of balls through his harn-pan!s.Sc. 1898 E. Hamilton Mawkin xiii.:
I'll weisse a ball through your sma'-fairns.Kcb. 1905 Crockett Cherry Ribband xxxix.:
I am acquaint wi' yae lad that wad weeze a bullet through the wratch wi' pleasure!

6. tr. or refl. To work, manœuvre, edge, ease or cause to move gradually in a certain direction (Sc. 1808 Jam., to weise a stane; Rxb. 1923 Watson W.-B.); specif. of rope: to draw out carefully, so as to prevent it from breaking (Sc. 1825 Jam., to weise out the tow).Sc. 1736 Ramsay Proverbs (1776) 35:
He that has his cods in a cloven stick maun wyse them oot the best way he can.Lnk. a.1779 D. Graham Writings (1883) II. 28:
No say much judgment as wyfe [sic] the wind frae her tail but lute it gang afore fouks.Sc. 1816 Scott Antiquary vii.:
Weise yoursell a wee easel-ward.Ayr. 1892 H. Ainslie Pilgrimage 225:
When we ran to the schule, I was aye by her han', To wyse off the busses.

7. intr. To direct one's steps, make one's way, go (Sc. 1808 Jam.), to slip away; of an object: to work itself, move gradually, slip or slide.Sc. c.1728 Ramsay Poems (S.T.S.) III. 205:
The moon was wysing to the west. the Birds sat noding in the nest.Sc. 1820 Blackwood's Mag. (Nov.) 202:
The coffin at a sharp turn in the planting wiest off the spakes.Dmf. 1823 J. Kennedy Poems 80:
They wys'd away To coup the cash drawn frae the kist For usquebae.Sc. 1928 Scots Mag. (May) 143:
Whan the lassie weised roond to the owrecome aince mair, the haill company tuik it up.

8. tr. and intr. To contrive, to obtain by guile, to use finesse in order to get (Sc. 1808 Jam.).Ayr. 1822 Galt Provost iii.:
Jooking and wising in a roundabout manner to accomplish their several wills.Ayr. 1830 Galt Southennan I. v.:
He has been wiseing by a' manner o' means to learn what siller we hae about us.e.Lth. 1892 J. Lumsden Sheep-Head 260:
Fleech him cannily an' wyse aff him a' ye want.

9. tr. To expend, use up, waste (money, strength, etc.). Phr. to wise awa, to while away (hours, time); to dispose of (money, property).Edb. 1822 R. Wilson Poems 25:
When Adam . . . wis'd awa the lightsome hours Wi' dressin' trees an' bonnie flow'rs.Ayr. 1823 Galt Entail xxxi.:
He has gart me wise it awa to Charlie.Abd. 1868 W. Shelley Wayside Flowers 59:
When love made music o' my name, And bade me ever walk erect, And weise my strength out manfully.